1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the preparation of reduced calorie fried foods, especially fried snack foods such as potato chips. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in reduced-calorie fried foods which are prepared by frying in a silicone fluid. The inclusion in the silicone fluid of at least a minor amount of one or more flavor-enhancing additives that are constituents of naturally-occurring animal or vegetable fats or oils has been found to improve the deep-fat fried flavor and aroma of the fried foods. As an added benefit, the flavor-enhancing additive also will reduce foaming during frying.
2. Background Art
The preparation of fried foods in a medium other than naturally-occurring animal or vegetable fats and oils has long been viewed as advantageous from the standpoint of reducing the overall calorie content of the foods. In many fried snack foods, such as potato chips, the residual frying oil content of the finished product contributes more to the calorie content of the product than any other ingredient. As consumer trends place reduced-calorie or "light" foods in more and more favor, there remains a need to provide such foods so as to meet consumer demand.
The use of a frying medium which reduces the overall calorie content of fried foods has long been regarded as desirable. Fat contributes a variety of important functions as an ingredient in food products, however. Due to its excellent heat transfer properties, animal and vegetable fats and oils perform well as a cooking medium. While the ability to provide reduced-fat (and thus reduced-calorie food) products is of great commercial interest, the full commercial potential will not be realized unless the food products have a full complement of sensory characteristics (e.g. taste, texture and "mouthfeel") that are as good as, or nearly as good as, their higher-calorie, animal or vegetable fat-containing commercial counterparts.
The use of silicone fluid for the preparation of calorie-reduced fried foods has received considerable attention in the literature. Published European Patent Application 205,273 A2 (C. L. Frye, Dow Corning Corp., published Dec. 17, 1986) describes the use of silicone fluids as replacements for natural fats and oils in a variety of foods. Several examples in the publication illustrate the preparation of fried foods in silicone fluid.
Morehouse and Zabik (Evaluation of Polydimethylsiloxane Fluids as Non-Caloric Frying Media, J. Food Science, 54 (4), pp. 1061-65 (1989)) have identified 35 cSt (centistoke) polydimethylsiloxane as the most preferred frying media of the many viscosity grades of polydimethylsiloxane fluid which are available. Potato slices can be fried in 35 cSt polydimethylsiloxane with considerable foaming to make potato chips. These chips have good texture but lack the typical flavors associated with chips prepared in vegetable oils. Accordingly, chips prepared in silicone fluid received lower scores in taste panels than conventional chips.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,413 (Meyer et al., Jan. 8, 1991) also relates to the preparation of reduced-calorie foods by the incorporation of silicone fluids as replacements for natural fats or oils. Although potato slices can be fried in a 95:5% blend of dimethylpolysiloxane (350 cSt) and conventional frying oil, as stated in the patent, I have found that a 95% blend of polydimethylsiloxane fluid of 35 cSt viscosity and conventional frying oil foams unacceptably in frying. Thus, such a mixture of conventional frying oil and polydimethylsiloxane (35 cSt) appears relatively unsuitable for the preparation of fried foods.
Silicone fluid has many advantageous qualities as a prospective frying medium, including thermal stability and non-digestibility. Unfortunately, the fluid has an overall bland flavor in comparison to natural animal and vegetable fats traditionally used for preparing fried foods. Also, as mentioned earlier, silicone fluids tend to foam when used as a frying medium. Thus, improvements are needed to silicone fluid frying if food products prepared therein are to become commercially viable.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for preparing reduced-calorie fried foods. Such a method desirably takes advantage of the beneficial properties possessed by silicone fluid, while providing the desirable flavor notes and aromas traditionally associated with foods fried in naturally-occurring animal or vegetable fats or oils.